Legislative accomplishments of outgoing Congress and where it fell short

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• Judy Woodruff:

  The 117th Congress is coming to an end, and with it ends the Democrats full control of the legislative branch of government.

  As it turns out, despite the narrow margins of the last two years, lawmakers ushered through historic legislation, like the bipartisan Infrastructure Act. Bringing unprecedented investments over the next several years, the bill will impact the lives of countless communities across the country.

  One state in particular is Alaska, where infrastructure money is set to help tribal communities withstand the effects of climate change.

  Lisa Desjardins has more.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Nearly 4,000 miles from the U.S. Capitol, the tribal village of Newtok, Alaska, is drowning. A Yup'ik community has lived here by the winding Ninglick River for centuries, the rising waters from climate change have eaten the ground out from under them.

• Carolyn George, Newtok Resident:

  All the little hills are gone. It's just getting marshy. And the erosion is getting faster.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Thirty-nine-year-old Carolyn George is a Newtok native. To survive, her village is relocating nine miles away. But that site can only house half the population now, leaving others like George and her kids waiting in Newtok, where erosion already has destroyed sewage and water systems.

• Carolyn George:

  And the homes are, like, moldy too. We don't have running water. It's really hard.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Now Newtok is poised to get more help from Congress, $25 million from a breakthrough bill passed last year.

  Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States: The bill, as amended, is passed.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Senators from both parties, including Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, came together to write the trillion-dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):

  Infrastructure is about bringing America together again.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  It will fund thousands of projects across the country, including some relocation of Newtok.

• Carolyn George:

  Getting more funding from the government means the rest of us can get homes and get moved over.

• Jackie Schaeffer, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium:

  The community of Newtok has — you know, they're one storm away from the school going into the river.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Jackie Schaeffer is a climate specialist working with Newtok for a tribal nonprofit. She says there is great need for the money from Congress, but also great urgency, because the village is now split.

• Jackie Schaeffer:

  Unfortunately, what that means is that you have separated families, you have separated friends. You're running one government from two communities, and it's very challenging. So, the sooner the better that we implement any funding that comes to the community of Newtok and the tribal council.

• Carolyn George:

  I feel like we are being robbed. I mean, I feel like I have been robbed, me and my kids. My parents are not getting any younger. And, I mean, they need me the most right now.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Newtok leaders plan to meet with federal officials next month to lay out where the money can go and how quickly.

  That is one project.

  The infrastructure bill's overall amount is 40,000 times larger. In fact, Judy, this is the largest single infrastructure bill in U.S. history.

• Judy Woodruff:

  It's just so important to see how that bill may make a difference in that community.

  But let's talk about the larger picture of 2022. To put it mildly, this was a session of Congress that was dramatic.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Yes.

• Judy Woodruff:

  It starts with the assault on the Capitol, historic, almost, political divide in the country. But, still, they were able to pass major legislation, some of it bipartisan.

  How did they do it?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Think about this.

  This Congress was three days' old when January 6 happened. This is what this looked like to members of Congress. They saw a House chamber under siege. They were under siege, heard the screams and shouts from protesters, heard the pounding of rioters.

  And then, after January 6 ended, the National Guard was inside the Capitol Building, sometimes living, sleeping in the Capitol Building for five months. That perimeter fence there, that stood for six months. So, there was an atmosphere, including around impeachment, that was very raw.

  It was one where members we're getting more threats. And it was some of the most personal animosity I have ever seen. I have seen — I saw members come close to getting into fistfights with each other. At the same time, though, as you said, they were able to pass an extraordinary array of bipartisan bills.

  Laura got into some of the details last night.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Yes.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  I want to talk about the amount of bills.

  Let's just look at this list here of some of the bipartisan bills, major topics that were passed. Some of these don't get a lot of attention, like the Hate Crimes Act that was passed, Juneteenth, a national holiday, the Anti-Lynching Act, all of these things topics that were not passed for decades, in some cases, a century, but that this Congress got through.

  How did they do it? It was notable, Judy, that they found a different way. Bipartisan groups, not leadership, who were serious about trying to get things done met in private. Often, it began with senators, often, tried to work months and months to try and figure out where they could find common ground.

  And the leadership gave them room to do that. I spoke to Senator Jon Tester, who was involved in some of this legislation, about how that worked exactly. He gave an example. Here's how the infrastructure bill worked.

• Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT):

  In the end, if you would have walked into that room and not known any of us, you wouldn't have known who was the Democrat was and the Republican was.

  I mean, I was arguing with Warner and supporting Romney. You know what I mean? That — this is how it worked. This is how we made — and, by the way, that's the way negotiations should work. We had one another's back. We compromised.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Away from the cameras, they were able to sort of let go of their partisanship, try and get things through. It took a lot of time.

  One thing also, that those lawmakers were texting each other on these long, extensive text chains, not the staff. They themselves were rolling up their sleeves and trying to get it done.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, we talked also with Laura Barron-Lopez last night about how Democrats were able to get some things done purely on party line. They did not get support from the other party.

  How did they pull that off?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Some massive bills, the American Rescue Plan last year and, of course, this year, the Inflation Reduction Act on climate and health care.

  To be honest, some Republicans still see those feats as a modern legislative miracle pulled off by Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Both of them spent a lot of time with a big agenda and ended up just narrowing it down to what they could pass.

  There was some disappointment, though.They thought they could do more. And the reason they couldn't, of course, two senators, primarily. Democratic senators at the time, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, now an independent, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia really were the ones who blocked some things, like codifying abortion that Democrats thought they might be able to do, increase voting rights, having legislation on that.

  The filibuster stands in large part because of those and a few other senators. Child tax credits, no universal pre-K, big Democratic items that went by the wayside.

  One other thing I want to mention the Democrats did do, sometimes on a partisan matter, they spent a lot of money. Now, on the one hand, we — from this Congress has been the greatest influx of cash to state and local governments this nation has ever seen, between COVID and between other bills, however, also a tsunami of red ink, according to the Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget, nearly $5 trillion of added debt from this Congress.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, what does, Lisa, all this tell us about the next Congress? 2023, it starts a few days from now.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You won't be surprised. And we have been talking about this. I spent a lot of time thinking about this. Where are we? What do we get from this Congress into the next, which will be so different?

  First of all, Kevin McCarthy, who is hoping to be the leader of House Republicans, the speaker, he has a narrow margin and a divided conference. And I will say, Judy, it is not just divided. This is like class six rapids that he's trying to negotiate inside of his conference.

  I think what we're going to have and what I see from this last Congress that worked were these relationships that were forged, those close relationships behind closed doors that got some hard things done.

  This next Congress is going to be a difficult test of the strength of those relationships between Republicans and Democrats, especially in the Senate, vs. unmapped passions, especially in the House, and untested tactics that we will see from some of those rebellious especially House Republicans.

  It is a question of those relationships and kind of sober, get things done. I don't think anyone expects major legislation from this Congress. The question is, how do they navigate crisis, especially the first one that we expect, the debt ceiling, which will come due in early to mid next year? And can those relationships get the country through that without alarm?

• Judy Woodruff:

  Sounds like a lot is hanging in the balance.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  It is.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Lisa Desjardins, looking at the whole year, thank you.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You're welcome.